Chiles Oks Redrawn District

TALLAHASSEE - — Gov. Lawton Chiles on Tuesday signed into law a measure creating a new congressional district for U.S. Rep. Corrine Brown, replacing boundaries declared illegal by a federal court.

The plan now goes back to the federal court for review. Judges are expected to rule quickly on whether the latest proposal is constitutional.

"It's still up in the air," said Mike Cochran, assistant general counsel for the Florida Division of Elections.

The new plan reduces the size and black population of Brown's Jacksonville-to-Orlando district, which had been drawn chiefly to elect a black legislator, judges ruled.

Four congressional districts adjacent to Brown's were slightly modified, but the rest of Florida's 23 congressional districts remain unchanged by the legislation (HB 2745).

The new map is not expected to hurt any incumbent's chances of winning re-election in the fall, Democratic and Republican party officials said. But until the court rules, all bets are off.

Jacksonville lawyer Rod Sullivan said he was prepared to legally challenge the new boundaries as racially gerrymandered. Sullivan represents Andy Johnson, a white radio talk show host whose lawsuit successfully overturned the current district.

"I think the court will see that by linking Jacksonville to Orlando, the race of the people within the district was the Legislature's predominant concern," Sullivan said.

Another key question still undecided is when federal qualifying - the weeklong period when candidates formally open their campaigns - will start. The legislation signed by Chiles sets qualifying for June 17-21, but the court has declared July 8-12 as the qualifying period.

As with the overall plan, judges are likely to rule soon in settling this conflict.

The new plan would cut Brown's 14-county, 250-mile-long District 3 to nine counties. Although it continues to link black communities in Orlando and Jacksonville, the overall black population would drop from 55 percent to 46.5 percent.

In 1992, Brown was among the first three blacks elected to Congress from Florida since shortly after the Civil War. She has already declared her candidacy for District 3, wherever the lines fall.